He had appeared at the party congratulating the staff “for the hard work done during the year”
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson now appears sulkily in the photos: he hasn’t been happy with one for a long time. Here is the latest: to remedy the scandal of the party held in Downing Street he had entrusted an investigation to Simon Case, cabinet secretary. But Cage had to resign shortly before presenting his conclusions: even in his office there was a Christmas party prohibited by anti-Covid rules.
Cage, who is a prominent civil servant, had to withdraw from the investigation because the Daily Mail found that on December 17 last year a party was held in his Whitehall office in which a dozen attended. of people of his staff, consuming rivers of alcohol and engaging in Christmas party games. Cage was not there, but he was in a nearby office, he was aware of what was happening and at one point he looked out and congratulated the staff “for the hard work they have done during the year”.
Another party, on the same days, would begin with a drink in Cage’s office and then continue elsewhere, according to reports from the “Guido Fawkes” website, run by conservative blogger Paul Staines. The cabinet office denies that this party took place, but the revelations still forced Cage to resign, just as Conservative party chairman Oliver Dowden was saying his investigation would confirm Johnson’s stance that no rules had been broken in Downing Street.
It was obviously not possible to have an official who in turn violated them, not preventing – just as Johnson is accused of having done – from judging if the prime minister had violated the confinement rules decided by his own government in December 2020 held Christmas parties in his offices. In Britain, people don’t tolerate politicians getting privileged treatment or allowing themselves freedoms they just denied their constituents, as in the case of Covid confinement. The scandal thus led to the sensational defeat of the Conservatives in the by-election in North Shropshire, a college where the Tories had easily won for 200 years. Johnson, visiting his Uxbridge boarding school, blamed the newspapers for talking about these things instead of covering what people care about, which is the coronavirus.
The Simon Cage case has reinforced voters’ feelings that Johnson uses his power for personal ends, adopting rules other than those he imposes on citizens. There is nothing worse than losing faith in a political leader, and anger is mounting in the Conservative party over the electoral consensus that seems to be dwindling more and more, with Labor leading the way in the polls. The older and more influential Tories have given Johnson six months to change the team of closest associates and put the government back on track. Another mistake could be immediately fatal, but six months is the minimum time to find him a successor in the party.
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